Thursday, March 07, 2024

Snack of the month - Gold Billions Wafer

A mid-afternoon shortage of milk prompted a short walk to the local Post Office, where this unusual confectionary treat was sitting on the counter. One intrigued impulse purchase later... 


It's about the size of a KitKat Chunky. Maybe a fraction thinner.


Colour-wise, it's not as yellow as a McVities Gold wrapped biscuit, despite being a product evolved from that very successful item.


The discolouration on the side of the bar was unsightly.


But explained by a layer of milk chocolate on the underneath of the bar. This chocolate was a decent quality and offset the sweetness of the caramel flavour coating on the rest of the bar.


The wafer was crispy, but not too hard. 


The filling around the wafer meant it wasn't too dry. It wasn't over-filled either.


Overall, this was a very sweet wafer snack. It bordered on sickly. If the caramel coating had been used all over it that would have made it even sweeter so the milk chocolate was a good design  choice. 

And although I enjoyed it enough to not regret my impulse purchase I won't be rushing to buy another one. Worth trying once, though.

Sunday, March 03, 2024

Football recap of the month - February 2024

February 2024 proved to be a megamonth of football for me, as I went to nine matches. This is the most I've ever been to in February.

Game 37: Caerau Ely 3-2 Llantwit Major

Reason for going: This was a late decision, when my friend Steve suggested we go. It was a Friday night game and set me up for a 3 game weekend. 

Point of interest: Llantwit Major came back from two goals down but were only level for a couple of minutes. 


Game 38: Barry Town 0-3 Pontypridd Town

Reason for going: Barry's first game of phase 2 of the Cymru Premier season. 

Point of interest: The first goal of the game was calamitous from the home team's point of view. The goalkeeper rushed out and failed to clear the ball leaving the striker free to fire home from the edge of the box. 



Game 39: Barry Town Ladies 1-3 Cardiff City Women

Reason for going: I'd been to watch Barry Town Ladies the week before and enjoyed it. So decided to go and watch them as they were hosting the table-toppers. 

Point of interest: This was the penultimate game of Phase 1 of the Adran Premier League. Cardiff City were unbeaten up to this point and it was easy to see why. They were a good team. (They lost the following week, though.) This was also the third day in a row I'd been to a football match. 



Game 40: Penybont 2-2 Barry Town

Reason for going: Penybont is one of the closest away trips for me.  

Point of interest: This was my 100th Barry Town game. I got a Futbology badge.



Game 41: Newport County 1-3 Notts County

Reason for going: My friend Paul is a Notts County fan. Although, for reasons of restricted ticket supply, I ended up in the home end with Paul's wife, Val, instead.

Point of interest: We caught the train to the game. Unlike last time I tried to watch Newport County, this time the train from Cardiff to Newport thankfully didn't go via Reading!!


Selfie with Val

Game 42: Llantwit Major 1-0 BK Skjold 


Reason for going: This game was in the Fenix Trophy, which is an international competition for amateur and semi-professional clubs founded in 2021. Skjold, from Copenhagen, were the holders. Llantwit Major were the first Welsh team to compete in this competition and bigged this game up as their first ever European tie. So there were a lot of reasons to go!

Point of interest: Llantwit's ground is known as Windmill Lane and there is a disused windmill next to the football pitch. It provided a vantage point for a couple of hardy souls during the game!





Game 43: Barry Town 1-1 Haverfordwest County


Reason for going: At this point, I think it's a more a case of hope than expectation. 

Point of interest: Former Barry player Rhys Abruzzese scored a very late equaliser for Haverfordwest - clocked at 90+6 minutes. Also Mike Lewis, the Barry goalkeeper, saved a penalty.


Game 44: Cardiff City 2-1 Stoke City


Reason for going: My friend Andrew asked me to act as "football sherpa" because his son, Ben, wanted to go to a football match, so we went and sat in the family stand. Andrew's nephew, James, joined us as well.

Point of interest: Because we were in the family stand, we got a visit from Bartley Bluebird, the Cardiff City mascot, in the second half. 




Game 45: Caerau Ely 1-0 Taff's Well


Reason for going: this was a chance to set a new personal record for February with a ninth game within the month.

Point of interest: Caerau Ely scored what would prove to be their winner after just 40 seconds!





Saturday, March 02, 2024

Love and crime - events of February 2024

And suddenly we are at the end of February, even though this year we had a bonus Leap Day. 

For Valentine's Day, Cathy and I celebrated by building a cute Lego set together. I hope these two hedgehogs are as happy together as we are.


February was a difficult month all told. Halfway through the month a "change programme" was announced in work, which will have an impact on my team. Morale and motivation have definitely taken a hit as a result. It's almost inevitable that it will, particularly if people are leaving as a result - it's reminded me of several aspects of organisational change that I studied in my Business Psychology MSc. 

On the home front we have had some stress too. What started initially with enquiries about some repairs to the house turned into a full blown roof replacement. We are very happy with the result, which included taking the top part of the chimney out and roofing over it. The state of the chimney has been worrying me for a long time and I'm very glad it's sorted. 



However, getting a new roof during one of the wettest Februarys on record meant it took a lot longer to complete than anticipated. The benefit of having it done while it was lashing down with rain every other day meant we could instantly check whether it was watertight. Fair play, it held during some downpours even before the new slates went on. 

Also, I've discovered that getting a new roof fitted is a great way to meet some of your neighbours. We had several people knock on the door asking if our roofers were any good and seeing if they could get quotes for their roof repairs. 

Our roofer, Sheldon, was very good. I liked him a lot and when he finished on the final day and said goodbye I honestly told him I was going to miss him. Apparently he is going to be back in our street soon working on someone else's roof and he says he will knock on the door to say hi. 

Less pleasantly, for the first time in my life I was the target of muggers. I won't go into too much detail, but basically, I was walking home from the city centre at about 6.30pm on a Friday evening. There were two youngish lads at the end of the street and as I walked past them one of them lashed out without warning, hit me and pushed me to the ground, then demanded some money. 

After taking some money, he proceeded to run off. His mate ran off after him. I phoned the police and talked to a 999 call handler all the way home, which was only a few minutes. Obviously Cathy had a horrid shock when I walked in bashed and bleeding. Police officers were able to attend and take a statement within minutes. CID called round the next day. And I'm very happy to say that within two weeks, the police had arrested my assailant, had charged him and he's currently being held on remand.


While the incident was horrible, the response I have had from family, friends, neighbours and colleagues has been lovely. I genuinely felt loved and supported by so many people, many telling me how outraged this had happened to me. Some of our neighbours brought a box of cookies because they saw the police car outside and saw my black eye and wanted to check I was OK. That was the only time I cried about what had happened - crying because of their unexpected kindness.

So, yes, a bad thing happened, but there are still lots of good people in the world and the response to the bad thing really brought that home to me. 

And on a final note, even having that incident happen, didn't stop me from going to nine football matches (full report to follow!), my first ever international ice hockey game, and making a dent in my pile of shame by building one of my Blood Bowl teams that had been sitting there unbuilt for two and a half years! So a good sporting month all round. 

New Blood Bowl Orc team ready for mayhem


Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Book of the Month: Independent Nation

I've had this book in my reading pile for a little while. With the tagline 'Should Wales leave the UK?', it's written by Wales Online Welsh Affairs editor Will Hayward to scrutinise both sides of the discussion about Welsh independence. 


I felt this was a decent review of the situation Wales is currently in. While Will points out that the idea that independence will help solve all of Wales's many problems is simplistic, he also strongly makes the case that the current status quo isn't going to do anything to solve those problems either. This is something I've talked about before when discussing my feelings about independence - 18 months ago when my friend Chris asked me whether I could really see a future for Wales as an independent country, I replied that I couldn't really see much of a future in the UK. This book acknowledges that things are bleak.

The problems we see in Wales - the high poverty rates, the demographic shift in society, the low quality infrastructure and the ongoing post-industrial trauma in the population's health are all covered by Will. And he pulls no punches at the lack of action from the UK government to do anything about them - inaction that has lasted for decades under whatever flavour government has been in charge. 

Will doesn't have much time for the sloganeering of Yes Cymru, harshly skewering claims that Wales could get by selling water and energy. He points out that if Wales went independent without an economic plan it would be ruinous, but plans could be made and, indeed, some people are already coming up with ideas. Will believes a solution is for Wales to find its 'niche' in the world - something it would be world-leading in.

He also recognises that independence provides an opportunity to recalibrate the economy in Wales and focus on other priorities rather than 'growth'. A constitution for Wales could focus on social justice and quality of life for all the people who live here with economic policy flowing from that. It was encouraging to have some other possibilities included in a serious political work instead of discussions of the economy just being the de facto Western idea that 'wealth' is measured in money.

The flipside of the book is an examination of the current political system, which is exposed as seriously lacking. The idea that the UK can persist with an 'unwritten constitution' is deeply unsatisfactory - as is the idea of Parliamentary sovereignty, which leaves the people of the UK at the mercy of charlatans and thieves. This isn't a theoretical criticism; the corruption in our current government shows that.

So what is the solution? Will doesn't give an opinion, although he does offer a range of options, showing this isn't a binary question. The most interesting scenario he paints is accidental independence - asking what would happen if England decided to opt out of the union. That's a feasible issue if Scotland went independent and there was a nationalist swing in England that saw Wales and Northern Ireland as more trouble than they're worth. 

If I had one criticism of this book, it's the author's tendency to insert himself into the narrative. As readers, we don't need to know which coffee shop he's met a politician in, or how he talked to an academic on a Zoom call. I know why authors add this colour in to their narratives - and Will doesn't do it as egregiously as some people do - but it's a distraction. There are other occasions where Will adds colour very successfully - for example, providing a short synopsis of the Aberfan disaster and how the UK government misappropriated the donations that were given to help the families of the victims who were killed.

But overall, that's a minor quibble for a book that I would recommend anyone with any level of interest in Welsh politics should consider reading. 

Friday, February 09, 2024

International Ice Hockey

A couple of weeks back, my friend Steve mentioned that Olympic qualifying ice hockey matches were taking place in Cardiff this month. Great Britain had three games lined up as part of their qualifying campaign and we decided to go and watch. Bryan and Tony joined us for a fun night out.






We went to the first evening game of the tournament - Great Britain v China. I was expecting a reasonably close game - GB are 20th in the World Rankings, while China are 26th. However, it turned into a bit of a blow out, with GB racking up a 10-1 victory.

GB came onto the ice in attack mode and peppered the China goal with shots. We were sat behind the goal, and the netminder was kept very busy. He did well to only concede two in the first period, making a number of fine reflex saves. 

The second period was quite dull for us because we were sat behind the GB goal and saw barely any action. Meanwhile at the other end of the rink, GB scored five goals. GB scored again at our end in the third period before China finally got a goal. I was feeling a bit sorry for them by that point so cheered when it went in. It's a long way to travel from China to Wales to then get tonked. 

It's rare I'm in a crowd that's chanting "We want ten! We want ten!" Even rarer that the crowd gets its wish. But the tenth goal went in to a loud cheer. We then had the amusement of a broken scoreboard reading GB 0-1 China, because it wouldn't display a two digit score. 

It was a very clean game, with a handful of players serving two minute penalties in the sin bin, for fairly innocuous fouls. There were no silly fights or roughing, which meant both teams just got on with the hockey. GB used the boards well, sending the puck round to players on the other side of the ice to switch the play with devastating effect. China had some good players but they played more as individuals rather than as a team and could rarely get on the offensive.

Great Britain are playing Serbia and Romania in their next two qualifiers over the weekend with the aim of making it through to the next round of qualifying. 

Every time I go to watch ice hockey I remember how much I enjoy it. Even watching the techs wielding power tools and driving big vehicles as part of the playing surface maintenance is fun!




Tuesday, February 06, 2024

Making a tiny dent in the pile of shame

In the middle of 2021 I bought the starter set for the "second season" reboot of Blood Bowl. When I unboxed it I talked about all the lovely sprues of figures ready to be built.

And they remained on the sprue until last night, when I finally got round to building one figure - the star player for the Black Orc team.



Clipping fun!

So, a couple of things... This player's name is Varag Ghoulchewer. Except I modified the figure slightly. As supplied, Varag has half a corpse impaled on his shoulder spike. I didn't like the look of this so just left this piece off. 

Bits of this model were fiddly to build, particularly getting his head piece complete with the tusked chin-guard right. (I'm not totally sure I've got it glued together entirely correctly.) I ended up using a video off YouTube to help me get that part of the model assembled. 

As I've modded the figure I've renamed him Garav Foolchewer. He will still have the star player's characteristics, skill levels and abilities. 

The second thing is that this dent in the pile of shame feels more significant than it really is. Yes, I have finally built a model from the second season starter box. But there are still two full teams in the box that are untouched on their sprues. Plus I have bought two other teams that are still on the sprue since I last listed all the unbuilt stuff I had. 

My current roster looks like this:
Human team - built and half painted, along with an ogre who needs to be repainted because he's currently in the wrong colour scheme
Orc team - built and mostly painted 
Lizard-men team - built and almost completely painted (including the bonus kroxigor figure)
Skaven (giant rat) team - built and painted, except for two star players who are (recently) built and unpainted
Necromantic Horror team - built and half painted
Wood elf team - built, unpainted. Although I have a treeman figure to go with this team who is mostly built and painted.
Human 'Imperial Nobility' team plus star player plus ogre - all on sprue
Black Orc team plus troll - still on sprue. The star player is built though!
Norse team - still on sprue
Elf (Elven Union) team - still on sprue

That's ten teams with four currently untouched in the pile of shame! 

But still, I've made a tiny little dent.

Saturday, February 03, 2024

Snack of the month - pickled plum crisps from Japan

These crisps were in my Christmas stocking although I think Santa Claus may have had some help from my sister, Sarah (hi Sarah!)

According to the packaging Sweet & Sour Pickled Plum is a popular flavour in Japan. I can see why. The crisps were a unanimous hit among the three people (including me) who tried them. Cathy liked them a lot. Bryan gave them the thumbs up too. 



I wasn't sure what to expect with these. I was a bit trepidatious after the last crisps to feature as my snack of the month were totally disgusting. Pickled Plum tasted like a slightly sweet salt and vinegar flavour. The sweetness gave the vinegar flavour a tangy edge that was very moreish. The crisps were nice too, crunchy but not cut too thick and not too oily, either. 

So overall, a very nice snack which maintains the success rate of decent snack-of-the-month snacks for 2024.

Friday, February 02, 2024

Football recap of the month - January 2024

Into the new year with a bang! 


My game numbering continues from December.

Game 33: Haughmond 1-0 Wem Town 

Reason for going: I was in Shrewsbury for the weekend and went with my nephew to watch this Shropshire County Premier League game.

Point of interest: The Shrewsbury Sports Village was my first new ground of the year. It's where the Shrewsbury Town Academy team play.



Game 34: Shrewsbury Town 0-1 Wrexham

Reason for going: Thanks to the FA Cup draw this was the first time Salop and Wrexham had locked horns in 15 years. Plus there's the whole Hollywood thing. 

Point of interest: This was the first sell out at the Meadow since the season they narrowly missed out on promotion and ended up losing the play off final at Wembley. Also - this was my 200th Shrewsbury game in my records.


Seven photographers! Usually there are two max.


Game 35: Cardiff Corinthians 1-1 Cardiff Draconians 

Reason for going: I fancied a local game instead of trogging to Aberystwyth to watch Barry.  (Although if I had gone on the bus to Aberystwyth I would have seen Barry win.)

Point of interest: The Corries play on a pitch that is half a cricket pitch. It's right next to the railway line so there's a good view of trains trundling past. They also have a clubhouse with a wall of old photos and news clippings. I love a good clubhouse wall full of archive stuff. 


Clubhouse full of history

Game 36: Cardiff Metropolitan WFC 0-1 Barry Town Ladies

Reason for going: This seemed a good way to fulfil my football fix for the weekend. One of my aims for the season was to see a women's game so this ticked this box too.

Point of interest: This was the 10th game I've seen at Cardiff Met's home ground in Cyncoed. It's the first time I've seen a Barry Town team win there!





Bonus football watching

I'm not counting it in my list of games, but this month I was able to watch my nephew, Zac, play for his Juniors team. He scored a screamer and set up two other goals in a 4-3 win.